A senior figure in the licensed trade in Scotland said yesterday pubs which prepare for the public places smoking ban due to come into effect next March should have nothing to fear from the legislation, writes Ian Findlay, industrial reporter.

Sue Allen, regional director for Punch Taverns in Scotland and vice-president of the Scottish Beer and Pub Association, said evidence from the republic of Ireland, where a ban has been in force since last April, suggested prepared pubs had not suffered.

Some had even seen an increase in business, Ms Allen revealed.

“Those who prepared and did something ahead of the ban did not suffer,” she said.

Punch operates 424 outlets in Scotland, including 15 in the Dundee area, which together employ some 300 people, and Ms Allen said the company’s nine Scottish business managers were preparing to implement the new ban.

“We have a lot of planning in place to spend a lot of money on providing areas where it’s safe to smoke,” said Ms Allen. “What we’re talking about is fresh air drinking.”

“It is something we would rather did not happen and we have been lobbying hard against it,” she said of the smoking ban legislation in Scotland.

“It’s very nanny state, but it’s happening and we have to cope with it.”